a/n: i said i wasn't going to go this far in the future again. i lied. i had to be fair to Katharyn, after all - she needed to outdo her sister!
April, 2034
Arlington/Alexandria Virginia
Often, Leroy Jethro Gibbs took the weekend shift, or volunteered to work late, because it was fair. At this point, he was the most senior field agent at the Navy Yard office, and many of his underlings and probies were, if not starting families, knee-deep in raising them, and they wanted to occasionally get home and deal with that. Remembering when he'd been younger, and his girls had been little handfuls – and remembering how good other agents had been to him when Jenny had Jackson – he returned the favor.
His kids were older now; both of the girls were in high school, and Jackson was old enough to understand the intricacies of both of his parents' jobs, so Gibbs never felt guilty for working if he had to.
Still, most late weekends at NCIS were incredibly boring, especially during the late Winter and early Spring months – murders went up during the Summer; crime went up after vacation season – he had no idea why, but that's how it was. Tonight, he was in the office alone with Jardine, who was still unmarried and childless, and liked working almost more than he did.
"Jardine," he growled, after watching her wipe her desk with a Clorox rag for the tenth time. "I think it's clean."
"Bishop told me Dorneget sneezed on my keyboard," she answered, panicky. "As a prank – can't you make them stop pranking me?"
"No."
"Gibbs! Why?"
"'Cause it's funny." Gibbs smirked. "Nikki, you're senior agent, just get 'em back better."
"So, you're giving me permission to fuck with them?"
"No," Gibbs said, while subtly shaking his head yes.
Jardine grinned, and then turned, abandoning her Clorox wipe as Gibbs' phone rang. He picked it up with his customary answer, and she stared at her computer, checking a message from Bishop – Bishop was always off on weekends, now; his wife, an NSA analyst, had taken some kind of weird maternity leave when their baby was born, so she went into NSA on weekends, and he was on baby duty.
He'd sent her a picture of him trying to feed their two month old. Jardine snorted.
"Gibbs, I think Jake needs help – "
"Bishop has to wait," he said, getting up. "Somethin's up at Henderson Hall."
"Henderson?" Jardine said, grabbing her gear and getting up. "Henderson never calls us."
"Yeah, there's a dead Marine in the barracks – looks like suicide, bunk mate claims it can't be suicide, they don't have many MPs," Gibbs listed. "'Least we're not bored anymore."
"You're morbid, Gibbs."
They made their way down to the car, with Gibbs paging the medical examiner as they went.
"What's Jake need help with?" he asked.
"Oh, he sent me a picture of him trying to work a breast pump."
Gibbs gave her a funny look.
"Hell, 'course he needs help," he said.
"Are they that hard?"
"If you're a guy," Gibbs snorted. "His wife should have left the – " Gibbs trailed off, and suddenly assumed a more stoic, manly visage. "How the hell should I know?"
"I've worked with you since your kids were teeny, Gibbs," she said. "I knew you when you used to go in the elevator on late nights to sing Anna lullabies before bed."
Gibbs glared at her, and said nothing, still choosing to maintain his aura of masculinity and bad-assery. When they got out of the elevator into the garage, he snatched the keys she'd grabbed.
"I'm driving."
"If that soothes your ego," she retorted, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
He ignored her, and made a point of driving like as much of a male as he possible could all the way to Arlington's Henderson Hall Marine Corps base. It was mostly full of educational complexes, and it wasn't heavily civilian or dependent; the gate was easy to pass through.
"NCIS? Yeah, more drama than we had here in a damn long time," one of the guards said. "We got a dead one, we got a Marine gettin' himself in trouble with an underage girl," the guy shook his head. "They join when they're young, you expect 'em to be idiots, but – whew."
Gibbs nodded, taking back their credentials and slowing his speed as they went towards the place where the body was supposed to be. He turned a corner, and spotted some flashing police lights – three MPS, one holding a Marine's shoulder as he talked to him, harshly, it seemed, and two talking to a young blonde girl, who seemed to be giving them a hard time.
Nikki snorted.
"Must be the young romance," she remarked, as Gibbs' lights hit them.
The Marine, the one MP had, turned his head away, and the girl winced, turning her head not away, but towards the lights, as if to figure out what had happened. Gibbs started to smirk, and then, without warning, slammed his foot against the break and brought the car to a screeching halt – and Jardine flew forward, slamming her balms on the dashboard to brace herself.
"Jesus Christ, Gibbs!" she complained, turning on him lividly – but to her surprise, he'd already slammed the car into park and hopped out of it, leaving the keys in it, lights on, engine running – right there in the middle of the road.
Jardine lunged for her seatbelt, starting out of the car, as well. She paused behind the open door, suddenly shrinking back – yikes.
"Sir, you need to back off," one of the MPs started, but Gibbs' credentials were already in his face.
"NCIS," he growled, wasting no time. "Katharyn Kelly Gibbs," he barked, at the top of his lungs.
"Sir," the MP insisted. He put a hand on Gibbs' chest.
Gibbs grabbed his elbow stiffly and pointed over his shoulder.
"That's my daughter, Marine," he snapped.
The MP glanced, and them let him go, and beckoned him over, clearing his throat. He said something to the Marine with him, and that one went to help the other guy talk to the older looking Marine sergeant.
"Oh, no," Katharyn exclaimed, covering her face. "Oh, no, no, oh my god – they told me they hadn't called you guys yet – "
"Called me?" Gibbs barked. "No one called me – what the hell are you doing here, Kate?" he demanded sharply. "Does your mother know you're out here?"
"They didn't call you?" Katharyn asked, confused.
"I'm here with NCIS – Katharyn," he said dangerously, breaking off his explanation. "You want to explain to me why you're here?" he corrected.
Katharyn gave him a defiant look.
"No!" she snapped, as if it were obvious. "I was just trying to get this guy to let me go home without calling – "
Gibbs turned sharply and gave Jardine a look.
"Go ahead to the scene," he barked. He turned back, and looked at the MP.
"You were going to call me, weren't you, Corporal?" he asked threateningly.
"Yes, sir," the man said promptly. "We were just trying to get the full story out of Miss Gibbs here, first."
Gibbs rounded on her.
"And what is the full story?" he asked quietly, his face tight. He looked over her shoulder. "You weren't with that guy, were you?" he asked.
Katharyn clamped her mouth shut, and folded her arms.
"Katharyn!"
"I wasn't doing anything wrong!" she burst out.
Gibbs looked at her in disbelief – he highly doubted that, because he knew there was no way in hell Jenny would have let Katharyn do anything that would keep her out past – past eleven o'clock! Hell, Anna's curfew was midnight on weekends, and Anna was damn near an adult! Katharyn gave him that sulky, guilty look she got when she was in trouble, and he knew something was up – but more importantly, he had the feeling his wife didn't know Katharyn was out of the house, and he needed to clear that up first, just in case she was worried or something - but first –
"You got ten seconds to start tellin' me what's going on, Katharyn Gibbs," he growled.
She threw her hand out.
"I wasn't – I just was hanging out with him, and the MPs pulled us over, and I was going to – just, calm down, Daddy, it's not – "
Calm down – hearing that from his fifteen-year-old daughter almost sent him into another dimension of rage. She had that defensive tone – the one she got when she was well aware she'd done something wrong, but she didn't want to 'fess up to it or own it – Katharyn was like that, she pushed the envelope, she could be bratty – and her first year of high school was only exacerbating that.
He turned to the MP.
"Why did you pull that driver over?" he asked stiffly.
"Speeding," the MP answered simply. "My partner saw a bottle of alcohol in the car, so we ID'd both of 'em – pulled him out when we realized your daughter here only has a learner's permit – "
"How old's the sergeant?" Gibbs asked stiffly.
"He's twenty-one, Sir."
Gibbs turned and gave a cold, scandalized look to his daughter, and then snapped his gaze over her shoulders to the Marine, who, despite still being questioned, was looking warily over at Gibbs. Gibbs made sure he got a good, hard glare, and tried to resist going over there and ripping his spine out through his throat – a twenty-one year old, going after – Katharyn was practically a toddler –
He turned back to her.
"I wasn't drinking," she burst out. "Dad, I swear, and he wasn't it just – it was just there, and – "
"Be quiet, Kate," he snapped harshly. "You don't have a leg to stand on," he turned to the MP coolly. "Why don't you take her in to the guard's station, hold her for a while," he said.
The MP looked at him a bit warily, and then glanced at his belt.
"You want me to cuff her?" he asked, his voice dry, joking a bit.
Gibbs gave him a serious look, and shrugged.
"Why not? Teach her a lesson."
"DADDY!" Katharyn howled.
Gibbs watched the MP hesitantly go and do just that, and slipped his hands in his pockets, gritting his teeth hard – he had about a million things going through his head right now, but the worst one was knowing exactly how twenty-one-year-old Marines thought, and the second worst was wondering why the hell his smart little fifteen-year-old was running around with one as it closed in on midnight.
"I'm calling your mother, Kate," he said tightly. "She'll come pick you up."
"Dad, you can just – you can do whatever you want, we don't have to tell her – "
Gibbs gave her a deliberately obstinate look, and shook his head, reaching for his phone – as if he'd ever keep something like this from Jenny, first of all, but second of all, he was pretty damn sure he couldn't handle this with a level-head, and if Jenny had a twenty minute drive to let her cool her head, she could probably put the magic touch on this – he was just in an absolute rage.
He strolled towards the sergeant and the other MPS, hitting the speed dial button and lifting his phone to his ear, fixing his gaze coolly on the young sergeant ad refusing to take it, listening as the MPs administered a field sobriety test even though the scum swore he hadn't been drinking.
Jennifer Gibbs was asleep when her cell phone woke her – not an uncommon occurrence, except she usually wasn't asleep this early on the weekends. She fumbled for it, not opening her eyes, and held it to her ear, wrinkling her nose and pulling her glasses off of her face.
"Hello?" she mumbled.
"JEN."
She nearly fell out of bed at the burst of noise. She sat up abruptly, her eyes flying open – he was so loud, she thought he was actually in bed next to her. When she could breathe again, she grit her teeth.
"What the hell, Jethro?" she asked sharply. "Are you on fire?"
He didn't answer that; he went on in that same loud, annoyed tone.
"Where do you think Katharyn is?" he asked aggressively.
Jenny rubbed her forehead.
"She's in bed."
"Is she?" asked Gibbs abrasively. "Is she, Jen?"
She slipped her reading glasses back on, and got out of bed, tempted to hang up on him and text him to call her back when he could behave like a civil human being – what was his problem, anyway, he was supposed to be working late, not thinking up ways to annoy her on a Saturday night –
"I can hear her TV, she's watchin' SNL," Jenny griped. "She," she opened the door, and squinted into the room.
Holding the phone to her ear, she stared blankly at the empty bed, and then closed her eyes, resisting the urge to groan. She chewed on her lip, sighed harshly, and backed out of the room.
"She's not here," she said, and then she felt conflicted – did she panic, or did she get angry? She sensed angry was probably right – Gibbs probably knew something, if he was this – hysterical. Jenny set her jaw and went down the hall – she peeked into Jackson's room; he was dead asleep, with a handheld video game on his face. She rolled her eyes and left him like that; she checked Anna's room, and Anna was asleep, too; not unusual, Anna didn't like late nights very much.
"How did she get out of the house without you noticing?" Gibbs yelled.
"Jesus, Jethro," she said. "I was asleep," she growled. She growled it defensively, though, because she was angrily wondering the same thing. "What's the issue – is she at NCIS or something? Did she," Jenny faltered, and narrowed her eyes. "She didn't – she did not borrow a car – " she started – Katharyn only had a permit –
"She's in the guard station with an MP at the Henderson Hall base gate!"
Jenny went downstairs, shifting her phone from ear to ear.
"She's what?"
"My team got called to a crime scene at the Henderson barracks – "
Jenny gasped, pausing on the stairs.
"Is she okay?" she asked.
"She's fine!" barked Gibbs. "I pulled up to the goddamn gates, and I hear there's a couple a teenagers causing trouble on the base, I turn a goddamn corner, and they've got these two outside of a pick-up truck – and Katharyn's standin' there, pleading with a cop not to call her parents!"
Jenny leaned against the wall, her brow furrowing – so, Katharyn had – what, snuck out? Gone to meet some friends, gotten pulled over near – where was Henderson Hall, near Arlington, near the clubs in – Clarendon?
"Well, what the hell is she doing there, Jethro?" Jenny asked curtly. "Is she – can I talk to her, are you with her?"
"No," he growled dangerously, "I'm with the guy who was driving the pick-up truck!"
Jenny closed her eyes apprehensively. She opened them, sighing, and turned – she figured she was going to have to wake Anna up to be alert in case there was something with Jackson.
"Jethro, don't do anything stupid," she started to warn.
"You need to come get Katharyn," he said shortly. "I let the MPs keep 'er, to scare her."
"Dammit, Jethro, just put your daughter in your car and bring her home, Jardine can take the scene – "
"Nah, Jen, I want you to see this guy," Gibbs barked.
"Does he have two heads or something?"
Gibbs grit his teeth – she heard them grind through the phone, he was so angry – and then he swallowed, and lowered his voice.
"He's twenty-one," he growled.
Jenny paused on the top stair, straightening.
"You've got to be kidding me," she snapped, taken aback. She held her hand to her forehead, and then stormed down the hall towards Anna's room. She was pretty sure Gibbs wasn't aware – she knew who the guy was; he was one of Katharyn's friends older brothers. "I'm on my way," she told her husband.
She hung up the call violently and went to wake-up Anna, shooting a longing glance at Jackson's room – Jackson, who wasn't a teenager, Jackson, who wasn't constantly threatening to drive her clinically insane – God, Katharyn could be bratty, extremely bratty, but this was outright defiant and borderline problem-child behavior, and Jenny was not going to have it in her house, she was not –
"Anna," she said, trying to keep her voice stead. "Anna, babe, wake up," she called, standing in the door. She flipped the light on apologetically. Anna groaned and sat up.
"Huh?" she said stiffly. "Mom," she mumbled, whiney. "I have church tomorrow." Anna always went to church with Noemi and her grandfather, which was why she usually went to bed early on Saturdays – even if her friends invited her out, she'd leave early to get some sleep.
Jenny took a moment to be grateful for her, even if she had pierced her bellybutton last year. Jenny decided she'd actually rather Katharyn pierce ten body parts than – do – whatever the hell she was doing tonight.
"I need you to be up, to watch Jackson," Jenny said. "I have to – I'm going out."
"Wow, party hard, Mom," Anna snorted, yawning herself awake. She got up, scratching her head. "Where're you goin'?" she asked. Her eyes widened. "Is Daddy okay?" she asked warily.
"Yes, it's not an NCIS emergency," Jenny soothed calmly. She hesitated. She didn't want to tell Anna, because it felt like gossiping with her children, but Anna was going to find out anyway –
"Why couldn't you wake up Katty? She's always up until like three."
- well, she better tell her, anyway; they could talk tomorrow.
"I am going out to get your sister," Jenny said tightly, "because it seems she has snuck out."
Anna's mouth fell open. She stared at Jenny, and then she looked gleeful.
"HA – what an idiot," she gloated. "Does Dad know?"
Jenny grit her teeth even more.
"It seems he's the one who busted her. He ran into her by chance."
Anna darted out of the room, heading for the stairs.
"Sure, I'll stay up in case Jackson gets up – this is hilarious – I can't believe she got by you, though, you're like a bat – "
Jenny rolled her eyes. She straightened her wrinkled clothes – naturally, she'd been sleeping in clothes – and gathered the few things she needed to be able to get access to a base – cleared identification, license, her purse, etc. – and she made sure Anna was fully awake, watching TV, and ready to hold down the fort – and then she got herself in her car, and headed from Alexandria to Henderson Hall to find out what the hell was going on.
She berated herself for being oblivious to Katharyn somehow getting out of the house – but then, she'd been asleep for over an hour, and the last thing she'd remembered hearing was a door slamming, which she'd assumed was Anna coming home from the movies. Now she was willing to bet it was Katharyn sneaking out, taking advantage of Jenny's trust – exactly assuming that Jenny would think it was Anna, if she checked at all.
She grit her teeth, getting angrier – and what on earth was she doing out with that boy – oh, what was his name, Flynn Barrister? Yes, it was her friend Evelyne's older brother, and Katharyn had told Jenny all about her smitten little crush on him –
Jenny took a few deep breaths – when she arrived, she couldn't start screaming, she had to take stock of things, decide how she was going to handle this – but this breech of trust was just so offensively egregious –
"Evenin', Ma'am."
She had been so concentrated on keeping levelheaded, that she was startled she was at the gates already. Before she could get out her ID though, the man tipped his hat.
"You wouldn't happen to be Jennifer Gibbs?" he asked.
"I am," she said warily.
He turned and pointed.
"Pull up, right there – pull over, it'll be fine; we've got your daughter in the guard's station - -your husband told us to expect you."
She smiled tightly, nodded, and did as he said – as she was getting out, and locking her car, she caught sight of Gibbs walking towards her, leaving an area where some lights were still flashing. He shoved his hands in his pockets, turning with her as she started towards the guard's station.
"Twenty-one?" she asked sharply. "Twenty-one?"
"I saw 'is ID myself," he growled. "He gave me lip, Jen, little son of a bitch, he - and he's that Evie Barrister's older brother, claimed he was taking Kate home from Evie's house 'cause she felt sick – guess he thought we lived on damn Henderson Hall – "
Jenny nodded shortly, waving her hand.
"I'll take care of it, Jethro," she said tightly.
"You know where she's going to go with this, Jen," he began.
"Oh, I know," she said. "I'd go there, too, if I were fifteen."
Outside the door, Gibbs grit his teeth, and jerked his head.
"She's in full form tonight," he warned. "She really thought she was going to convince me not to tell you."
Jenny laughed shortly. She tilted her head, and glanced past Gibbs at the place where she guessed the MPs were still talking to the guy.
"Just go to your crime scene, Jethro," she sighed tightly. "Don't – really, don't go at that guy."
A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he shook his head – it would take all his self-control not to, but he'd do as she said; he'd go to his crime scene, he'd try to calm down, he'd call later, he'd talk tomorrow – all the things he was supposed to do that didn't include throttling the slimy dirt bag who had aided his daughter's delinquency.
"Just tell me one thing," Jenny sighed. "Were they – were they drinking?"
Gibbs sighed harshly.
"No," he said. "They breathalyzed him. I let 'em give her one, too. Both sober."
Jenny closed her eyes in relief. She nodded, and then she leaned forward and brushed her lips against Gibbs' jaw before steeling herself, turning, and knocking on the door. Gibbs stood there until it opened, long enough to shoot a menacing glare at his daughter, and then he turned shortly and left.
Jenny entered the small place, where Katharyn was sitting near a desk, her hands neatly placed in her lap – and at the sight of the handcuffs, Jenny almost rolled her eyes; typical Gibbs, letting them scare the living shit out of her. Still, she didn't feel too badly about it. She gave her daughter a good, hard look – one Katharyn couldn't even hold; the blonde bowed her head sheepishly and closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. Jenny turned tensely to the MP and the guard.
"Do I need to sign anything?" she asked in a cool, clipped tone.
"No, ma'am, she's free to go, it was him causin' problems," the MP said sternly.
Jenny nodded. She gestured, and they uncuffed Katharyn; Jenny took her shoulder and pinched her hard, marching her forward out the door and towards the car. Katharyn had the good sense not to say anything as Jenny all but sat her hard in the passenger seat herself, watched her buckle in, and then got in the car, started it, and turned it to leave the base.
It wasn't until she merged onto the highway that Katharyn turned.
"Mom," she started, in a shaky, scared but somehow still stubbornly brazen voice, "I wasn't drinking or – I wasn't doing anything – "
"Katharyn," Jenny said in a low, mildly threatening voice that had an edge of finality to it, "sit there in silence until we get home. I need to watch the road, and I want you looking me in the eye when I put you in your place."
Katharyn put her hand to her eyes and wiped them, starting to cry, and Jenny didn't look at her once the rest of the silent, tense ride back to the house in Alexandria.
Anna, in a painfully cliché older-sister sitcom move, whistled tauntingly as Jenny marched in the door with Katharyn sulkily trudging after her. Jenny shot her a warning look, but Anna still opened her big mouth.
"You just had to one-up me, Katty," she trilled.
"Go upstairs," Jenny ordered sharply to Katharyn, and as she went, she rounded on Anna. "Considering your own little act of defiance is still somewhat fresh in my mind, bringing it up while I'm angry at your sister is not your smartest choice," she hissed. "You may go back to bed now, Anna, and in the future, think before you speak – and do not throw stones when you live in a very fragile glass house."
Anna's smug smile faded and she bit her lip warily, looking contrite. She got up, turned off the television, and pulled on her hair nervously.
"I'm sorry, Mom," she said sincerely, heading up the stairs lightly.
Jenny nodded, forgiving her, and went into the kitchen, taking a moment to look at the dirty dishes in the sink before she poured herself a glass of wine – it was infuriating, raising daughters was infuriating, and every day she asked herself if she'd been this obnoxious, and obstinate, and troublesome – and the thing is, for the most part she didn't think she had been – except for a few issues when Gibbs came along, she'd been a model daughter, and maybe, in an ironic twist, Katharyn and Anna – and even Jackson – acted like normal, rowdy, sometimes troublesome kids because they had the quintessential nuclear upbringing, whereas Jenny had always been trying to compensate and make her father feel like he was perfect.
Jenny chose to do the dishes before she went upstairs to confront Katharyn – and she shot Jethro a text telling him they were home safely, and she was talking to their daughter now.
Katharyn was taking off her make-up at her vanity when Jenny walked in and closed the door, and she bit her lip hard, trying to hid behind her thick blonde hair as Jenny folded her arms. Jenny waited a long, silent moment.
"Look at me," she ordered simply.
Slowly, Katharyn turned around and lifted her chin, trying to look stubborn. She met Jenny's eyes, and then glanced over her shoulder, looking just past her mother.
"Look at me," Jenny ordered again. When she had her full attention, she gestured sharply. "Your side of the story," she allowed sharply. "You have one chance to tell the whole truth."
"Do you always have to be such a lawyer?" Katharyn lashed out, a whiny edge to her voice.
"Is that your full statement?" Jenny asked stonily, taking full advantage of the lawyer persona.
Katharyn looked angry, but sagged a little.
"I – I went to hang out with Flynn, he wanted to – go on a date, and I told you, I thought he liked me, he was always flirting with me at Evie's, since he got back from Iraq – and I was afraid that you wouldn't, you know, let me go out with him so I just told him – I would," she said tightly. "And he – well, he said we could just go to his house for a while, because Evie's at her grandmother's, but Evie was home, so we left, and I said he could take me home, because I started to get nervous, but he said we could hang out at Henderson instead," Katharyn trailed off. "I was just hanging out with him, I wasn't - I didn't plan to do anything, and I didn't drink, I swear, and I wasn't going to do anything with sex, I know to talk to you first – "
Jenny held up her hand, and Katharyn stopped talking immediately – at least for a moment.
"I didn't do anything wrong – "
"I am finding it hard to understand why you keep saying that," Jenny said sharply, "when you snuck out of this house, got into a car with a man your father and I barely know who is six years older than you, and went off with him – breaking curfew, breaking my trust," she listed sharply. "You snuck out of this house, Katharyn. You left this house without my permission – at night! On a Saturday night!"
"Well – that was wrong," Katharyn said desperately. "But – Dad acted like we were caught murdering someone, or with – I don't know, like my clothes were off, but I was just begging the MPs not to call them – but I swear, like I said, no drinking – "
"Well, at least you had that much sense," Jenny said coldly. "Katharyn, when you sat in the kitchen while I cooked last week and gushed over this boy, what did I tell you?"
Katharyn folded her arms unhappily.
"What did I tell you, young lady?" Jenny repeated.
"That he's – that he's too old for me – but Mom, I liked him, and he'd think I was so stupid if I couldn't go out because I'm young – "
"Because you are fifteen and he is twenty-one and at best that is weird, at worst that is predatory and – "
"Are you serious right now? Mom, you were underage when you started dating Dad!" Katharyn howled. "You – he's that much older than you!"
Jenny's face darkened. She had expected that – oh, how she had expected it; she had always dreaded this, because she had always known how perfectly she and Jethro had worked out would be a story that her daughters tried to throw in her face if they ever met an older man.
She swallowed hard, and took a deep breath.
"When I was seventeen, I thought I was going to go out with a twenty-two year old without telling my father – and my father, rightly, went ballistic," she said coldly. "And that boy came to the door, shook my father's hand, and then – and then! He stayed away from me for two weeks while Grandpa thought about the issue, and from that point on, he followed rules that would have worn any other man down – do you know why?"
She didn't wait for Katharyn to answer.
"He did that, Katharyn, because he respected me, he respected my father, and he understood that age differences can be awkward, scary, and suspicious, and he wanted to make sure that there was no threat, and no chance of his actions being misinterpreted. Your father was transparent. He was a stand-up gentleman. And he was, very much, the exception to every rule of common sense that exists between twenty-year-old men and teenage girls."
It was a speech she'd rehearsed through and through, and she gave it with confidence – and she meant every single word, because she knew how ridiculous it would look to a teenager to have her mother be seemingly hypocritical, and she intended to get her point across as best as possible – she and Jethro were an anomaly, and the thing people – including her own daughter – had to understand is that miracle stories had to stop being looked at as fanciful realities when, in fact, they were the exceptions to rules that were there for a reason.
Katharyn looked at her miserably, angrily.
"But you'd already said he was probably just flirting to make himself feel better! You said he was too old – I knew you'd say no, so I didn't even ask – and you made me feel like he wouldn't like me for me, because of what you said, so I just – it's the same age as you and dad, though and –
"Fifteen and twenty-one is not the same thing as seventeen and twenty-two, Katharyn," Jenny said sharply. "It is not the same thing at all - you change and mature so much in your teenage years – I told your sister this last year, when she got aggressive with me – the way you will look at life when you are seventeen, eighteen, is leagues different from how you look at it now – and then, wait until you get to twenty-one," she lectured.
Katharyn pushed her hair back, frustrated.
Jenny went on.
"You have to understand that no matter how grown-up you think you are, I know better than you, I've literally been there – and I was very cautious with your father, and my dad made sure of that – you going out like this, pulling a stunt like this, proves to me that even if this boy had come to talk to me or your father, you are in no way able to handle – "
"Well you can stop shouting at me, Mom, you're right, okay? I'm stupid, I'm just a stupid kid, he – he was taking me home because I told him I didn't want to have sex, and that's all he wanted – Evie even made a joke, like my crush was so big I'd probably put out just because of his uniform!" Katharyn shouted, bursting into tears. "And I said no, because I didn't want to, and he told me I was just a little kid and all this – mean stuff," she broke off.
Her shoulders sagging, Jenny looked at her with deep sympathy – how heartbreaking to be told by a boy you had a crush on that you were a dumb kid just because you had conviction, because you were making a choice for yourself.
Jenny came forward, and sat on Katharyn's bed, swallowing hard.
"Come here, Katharyn," she said.
At first, Katharyn shook her head meanly, but then she got up and sat down next to Jenny, leaning against her.
"I just was so mad you were right! And I was made he was such a jerk! And I was going to get in trouble because Daddy caught me, and you were going to catch me, and it wasn't even worth it, and Evie's going to make fun of me and tell everyone, and they'll all call me a prude and – it's not – he's a Marine, he's not supposed to be like sh – shitty other – guys!" Katharyn cried.
Jenny put her hand on her daughter's head and stroked her hair, frowning sympathetically. She personally had never faced something like that – Gibbs had always been too respectful to make her feel like this – but her heart hurt for all the girls who had to suffer it.
"It's never fun to discover that no matter what they wear, or what they do, or what code they swear, people are people all over the world," Jenny said gently. "They can be rotten or saintly or average, no matter what. I'm sorry he did that to you, Katharyn. I want you to know that you were right to stick up for yourself, if you didn't want to have sex. I hope you never let someone bully you into that."
Katharyn nodded, wiping at her eyes. She curled closer to Jenny, obviously glad that the yelling had stopped.
"Honey," Jenny sighed, "I know you think it's stupid of me, and your father, to tell you that you can't date until you're sixteen, or that two years is as far as you can go right now, but I want you to know that – fifteen is much younger than you think it is, and there is something strange about older men who want teenage girls. You think about – how this guy tried to get you to sleep with him. He did that because he thought you'd be flattered, that you'd be head over heels, do it to impress him – because a lot of older girls are more confident in themselves, more aware of themselves and more experienced, and they won't be taken in by slimy nonsense or men who are immature and insecure – when you meet older men who flatter you and make you feel like a princess, you have to ask why women their own age are running and hiding."
Jenny pushed Katharyn's hair back again.
"Especially if they claim girls their age don't get them, or are all crazy, or something – never trust a man who calls girls that won't date him crazy."
Katharyn furiously rubbed at her eyes, pulled away, and looked up at her mother.
"I thought he liked me, Mom. Guys never like me."
Jenny nodded pointedly.
"And he took advantage of that. And you're young enough that it worked."
"Mom, you always – I'm not stupid, okay, I'm not – I'm NOT – "
"No, Katharyn, no, honey," she said quickly, thought calmly, "I don't mean you're stupid; I did not mean to sound like that. You are not stupid. Tonight, in sneaking out, you made a very stupid decision, but you are not stupid. I know you're smart. I'm proud of how smart you are – you, and Anna, and your brother," she said earnestly. "But you are still growing emotionally, and when it comes to self-awareness and self-actualization, and in this instance an older person who knows that, who knows what young girls can be like because he's already been that age, manipulated you, and made you feel older, and mature, and wanted – and that's what people like, and crave, and it turned your head – this isn't an attack on you, Katty – I felt this, too! I always thought I was more mature! I thought I was smarter! Anna acts this way all the time! It's a right of passage!"
Jenny touched Katharyn's cheek.
"And like I told Anna – I'm here to protect you from yourself, and repeat the same annoying things you hate hearing, and say no, because I'm the final barricade between you and doing something that you can't come back from," she explained. "Does that make sense?"
Katharyn looked down at her lap; she looked away. She swallowed, sniffed, and looked up, her eyes watering again. A few tears fell down her cheeks.
"It's so embarrassing," she whispered hoarsely. "Why should I have to sleep with someone to be a grown up?"
"You don't," Jenny said heavily, emphatically. "You don't. And you're going to hear so many people act like sex makes you an adult and it doesn't. It just doesn't, Katharyn."
Katharyn picked at her fingernails. Jenny licked her lips.
"You know, your Dad and I…it worked out, and I'd never change a thing, but your Dad is a very big outlier, Katty. He's…incredible. He never once pushed me, or wheedled me or anything like that. He never said why he was interested in me, even though I was younger, and he was always so…passive. He let me take leads, and make decisions, even if it killed him. He let me refuse to marry him for six years. But we're not the norm. I know it's romantic to think so, but we're just not the norm."
Katharyn swallowed.
"I know," she said softly.
She did, deep down – she'd just been—well, she didn't know what she was doing, but she regretted it now, and she wished it hadn't happened at all – in fact, right now, she didn't feel like being defiant ever again; she wanted to be in kindergarten again when she rarely ever got yelled at and everything was easy.
"Listen to me, look at me," Jenny said softly. "You need to be very wary of men his age, and older – men over eighteen, at your age – who go after you. I'm not saying assume men are threats from the get-go, but question heavily why they would be interested in a fifteen-year-old. Are you interested in dating a thirteen-year-old?" she asked.
Katharyn choked.
"God – no, ew – "
"But it's only two years."
"But it's - Mom are you – ahhh," Katharyn trailed off, a light bulb obviously going off. She flushed, and looked sheepish, and then miserable again. "I don't – know how man times I can apologize – "
"You haven't apologized, Katharyn," Jenny said, a little sharply. "You've made excuses, you've tried raging, and you've cried – and you have a right to; this boy was awful to you – but you haven't apologized."
Katharyn pushed her hair back.
"Well, I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry I snuck out, I'm sorry I thought I was smarter, and I'm sorry I got slapped in the face for it," she added, a little nastily.
Jenny gave her a mildly amused look.
"I'm glad you recognize you learned your own lesson," she said. She folded her arms, leaning back. "I'm sorry you're hurt, Katharyn," she said softly. "I'm so sorry. I hate that you had to experience this. But I'm – I am very angry at you. Not for making a mistake by having a crush – for disobeying me, for ruining my trust – to think, I can't fall asleep a little early and trust you to behave?"
Anger flared – and she clenched her teeth.
She stood up, pushing back her hair.
"Something terrible could have happened to you, Katharyn – I'm frankly glad that the only thing that happened is that your pride was hurt and your little crush was stepped on – what if he'd decided to drink and drive; what if he'd – forced himself on you? You left this house to go out with someone – obviously I've told you and Anna both that being assaulted is never your fault, but it scares me that you thought you were better than my rules, that you thought it was okay to go running around where I had no idea of your whereabouts," Jenny trailed off.
She frowned.
"I hope having your father walk into that scared the living daylights out of you, and I hope to God getting cuffed and held by police stomped out any flames of rebellion in you – honestly, what were you thinking?"
Katharyn bowed her head, and shrugged.
"Do you understand that my rules exist for a reason? That me being able to trust you is the single most significant part of our relationship right now, when you're about to have driving privileges, and you're getting older – I'm supposed to be letting go, not tightening my grip – "
"I'm really sorry, Mom, I won't do it again - I really learned my lesson – "
"I believe you're chastised; I believe you've learned certain lessons," Jenny said levelly. "But this – sneaking out, Katharyn, going off with someone – this is big; this isn't lying about your homework, or hitting your brother, or watching movies I told you not to – this is big leagues disobedience. This is – this is – "
Jenny paused, thinking of something her father told her once, about how one day, she'd face a big issue that she just – was baffled by, confused by, like he had, and Jenny finished:
"This is your drunk-on-the-doorstep after Halloween," she said dryly.
She saw Katharyn's brow furrow in confusion, and she gave her a small, tight, and wry smile.
"I'll tell you when your wounds heal a little," she promised shortly.
She'd have to tell her father Katharyn had her moment – although unlike Anna's bellybutton defiance, Jasper would probably not think this one was funny – at all.
Jenny folded her arms again. She felt angry, she felt sad - -she felt angry at Katharyn, and at this boy for hurting her child, and she felt upset that Katharyn had disappointed her like this, she felt like she'd failed in falling asleep and not catching her - again, she sharply felt how mind-numbingly hard it was to raise children, ever single time she thought she was past the hard part, it got harder.
"I'm going to have to talk to your father about this, but you're going to see a serious reduction in privileges," Jenny said bluntly – not with too much malice, but with firmness. "Repairing trust, when you've shattered it like this, takes a long time. Actions mean much, much more than promises made when you're feeling sad and guilty and sorry for yourself."
Katharyn gave a flashy pout, and then her shoulders sagged, and she looked at Jenny wetly, and warily.
"What are you going to do to me?" she asked dramatically – Katharyn, ever the dramatic one, even in defeat.
"As I said, I'll be talking to your father," she said. This just wasn't the same as Anna's piercing fiasco – this was just – blatant, scary; behavior that made her nervous – it needed to be nipped in the bud. "Primarily, you can be sure you won't be going anywhere on the weekends for a while. Not if we can't trust where you are."
"But I didn't lie about where I was going, I just left – "
"That is an incredibly terrible argument to make," Jenny said dryly.
"Well I'm sorry I'm not a lawyer," Katharyn lashed out, wounded.
Jenny inclined her head.
"Lies of omission are still lies," she said flatly. "Regardless of the heart to heart we had, and of the sympathy I feel for you because you were so roughly initiated into the 'men-are-jerks' club, you are still in huge trouble. There are two separate issues here: you understanding that it's not your fault when a man is a predator, and you understanding that the defiant choices you make because you think you know it all are unacceptable and problematic."
"I'm not perfect, Mom."
"I don't expect you to be," Jenny said firmly. "What I expect is you to respect me, your father, and yourself; and I expect you to exercise the vast amount of intelligence you possess and make good choices. You did not show respect, and you made an incredibly poor choice. You will suffer the consequences."
Katharyn seemed to have lost the ability to talk back or bargain, so she just laid back, turned on her side, and curled up on her bed, nodding her head sullenly, and dejectedly.
Jenny looked at her for a long moment of silence, and then came forward. She bent over, put her hand gently on Katharyn's head, and then kissed her forehead.
"Everything I do is for your own good," she said hoarsely. "Please try to remember that. I've been there before. I know what I'm talking about. I love you," she said. She paused. "Boys will like you, Katie," she soothed, as an afterthought. "You're beautiful and you're smart. You should wait as long as it takes for a boy who wants that, and sees it in you."
Katharyn wiped at her face. She nodded, a little testily, and Jenny smiled sadly, turning to go – Katharyn was free to be angry, and sullen, and moody; Katharyn kind of always was, but at least Jenny could say she'd done her best, and she thought she was getting through to Katharyn, as well.
She was at the door when she heard Katharyn shift, sniffling softly.
"I love you too, Mom," she mumbled, and Jenny left the room with at least a slightly lighter weight on her shoulders – she always hated it when one of the kids went to bed.
Outside the door, Jenny pushed her hair back and sighed, her head hurting. She started towards the stairs, aching for a glass of whiskey, when she heard Anna behind her.
"Is Katty okay?" Anna asked, all concern, no gloating.
"She's okay, Banana," Jenny said. "You're good to go to bed now – Jackson didn't wake up, did he?"
"No. But I took the game thing off his face and I put his hand in a glass of water as a joke."
"Anna."
"I'm kidding about the last part," her oldest snorted. She glanced at her sister's door. "Did she really sneak out with some guy?" she asked.
"I have always tried to make it a point not to air you guys' dirty laundry to each other," Jenny said warningly. She inclined her head. "But don't tease her about this one, okay? She knows she's in trouble. She's gonna have it hard."
Anna nodded. She turned to go back to her room, and then stopped.
"Hey, Mom? If any guy ever hurt her…I'd make them wish they were never born," she said boldly.
Jenny smiled at her tiredly.
"You'd have to beat your father and I to it," she said. "Same for you, Anna. Same for Jackson."
"If a man every hurt Jackson?" Anna laughed.
"Man or woman," Jenny said evenly. "Any of you."
Anna nodded. She said her goodnights, and Jenny did retreat downstairs – there was no chance of her accidentally falling asleep now; she was too juiced up, too full of thoughts and things she should have said, of what she should do.
She poured herself a glass of bourbon on the rocks in the kitchen, and then went down to the basement to spend some time with her husband's latest project – it was another sailboat, this one to teach Jackson to sail, and one day.
She sat down on a wooden bench, and got out her phone to call him and give him a quick update – and then she started thinking about how no matter what year it was, and no matter where they were, girls, in some way or another, always faced the same problems.
Gibbs got home before the sun came up; his house was quiet and still, and he was tired as hell – he'd calmed down, but thinking about waking up and eating breakfast with his daughter made him bristle with anger and annoyance again. He was silent as he prowled around, checking on each of his kids – Jackson, dead asleep, Anna, peacefully buried under covers – Katharyn, securely in bed, asleep in the light of her television.
He turned it off, and left her to her slumber, glad she was safe – angry he'd had to worry at all.
His wife was sitting up in bed, reading e-mails on her phone – somehow, Jenny always had e-mails she could read, and she always did that when she couldn't sleep. He crawled into bed next to her, collapsing on the covers, burying his head in the pillows with an exhausted groan.
He smelled like luminal, grease, and the outside, and Jenny put aside her phone, reaching over to massage his shoulder affectionately and comfortingly. She sighed tiredly and scooted down to lay next to him.
"Tell me the worst," Gibbs said dully. He turned his head and looked at her balefully. "Is she pregnant? Snorting crack? A communist?"
"Really? She runs off with a Marine, and you think 'hell, she must be a commie.'"
Gibbs shrugged dimly.
"Do you actually think communist is worse than pregnant?"
"Not worse than pregnant," he said, deadpan. "Maybe worse than crack."
Jenny laughed – it was the only thing she could do, and she knew he was making sardonic jokes because it was the only thing he could do. She sighed again, and lifted her shoulders.
"She did it. She threw the 'but-you-and-dad-did-it!' right in my face," she told him.
"Hmm," Gibbs muttered. "What'd you do?"
"I told her exactly what I always said I'd tell her," Jenny said huskily. She shook her head, swallowing hard. She lifted her shoulders. "I think she understands. I hope – God, and this one was so clearly a manipulative piece of shit," she growled.
Gibbs' face tightened.
"He ain't in good standing," he said. "Couple dozen pings on his record. One was for his drill sergeant's daughter at Parris Island."
"Lovely. How old was she."
"Seventeen. Consented."
Jenny made a face, and a muscle in Gibbs' jaw twitched.
"What the hell was she thinkin'?" he asked sharply, painfully.
"She wasn't," Jenny said quietly. "She's a fifteen-year-old girl with volatile emotions, she was flattered, she was being rebellious – it was all emotion and no thought, and I discussed that with her – she's well aware she's got a world of hurt coming, Jethro," Jenny told him.
"Good," he growled. He clenched his fist. "When I realized it was her in the headlights, Jen, I swear…once I figured out she was okay, I could've throttled her."
"Katharyn tends to have that effect," Jenny said dryly. She rubbed her forehead, looking at her husband tiredly. "He was bringing her home, Jethro," she said, reluctant to tell him. "He tried to get in her pants. She told him no."
Gibbs' jaw tightened; his eyes hardened.
"Good," he said fiercely. "That piece of shit…son of a bitch – she's fifteen – she's his goddamn little sister's age – "
"I know, I know," Jenny soothed, anger seething in her veins, too. "And you know, it hurt Katty so badly, her poor little heart, her ego – everything, and her growing up with you, and my Dad, and men like Leon and Damon and thinkin all people who wear the uniform are these dashing, honorable – "
"They're supposed to be," Gibbs growled. "I should've stayed and booked that kid – "
Jenny massaged his shoulder again – Gibbs remaining to deal with the Barrister boy would have just been a dangerous conflict of interests, and emotional decision-making. Gibbs was beyond protective of his girls, and this kind of threat was – just way too much of a trigger.
"I talked to her about the boy, the girly stuff, I don't want you going all chastity-belt Dad on her," she soothed. "Just don't – when you talk to her tomorrow, don't touch the boy stuff, don't go near the 'he's too old' stuff – she's sensitive, it will set her off – stick with the trust, issues."
"Me?"
Jenny nodded.
"We're going to decide how to punish her, but you're going to talk to her about it, deliver the bad news – you're the one who caught her, and it will hit harder coming from you, the trust and disappointment – they're daddy's girls, and you being disappointed in them kills them."
Jenny paused, and smiled wryly.
"At their age, being at odds with me gives them invigorating super powers," she joked.
Gibbs smirked slightly.
"Nah," he said. "I know they butt heads with you a lot, but it's 'cause they want you to think they're perfect – they're afraid you won't be impressed with them – s'hard having a mom who's so successful."
Jenny flushed, but smiled – she always did what she could to make sure Anna and Katharyn knew they could pursue whatever made them happy, as long as they tried their best and were good to people, and beneficial to the world around them. Still, she knew how it felt to be the child of someone who intimidated others, and whom you wanted to impress so badly.
"I think we need to tell her that if she can't toe the line and prove herself, and earn our trust, she can't get her license in November," Jenny said flatly. "That's plenty of time for her to rebuild what she broke, but it's also a daunting thing to hang over her – show her how serious we are."
Gibbs considered that critically, and then nodded his head slowly.
"We gonna set out parameters? Trust earned check-list?" he grunted.
"No, it's intangible," Jenny said. "We'll be able to tell – and she should understand that, you know, it's not about being perfect, or not getting in to trouble, she's still going to talk back and be a teenager, but it's a big picture thing – overall, has she earned our trust? Is she respecting us?"
Gibbs nodded. He snorted.
"The General'll know how to gauge this – "
"Jethro, I swear to God, seriously, stop gossiping with my father – we're not telling him about this one just yet –"
Gibbs put his arm around her waist and pulled her close, pressing his nose against her cheek for a moment with a tired grin.
"Kidding," he mumbled, and kissed her.
He sighed heavily, his eyes closing, and rested his forehead against hers.
"I keep remindin' myself how cute she used to be," he admitted dryly. "Tryin' not to stay pissed."
"Sleep on it, but stay determined to discipline," Jenny advised quietly. She empathized with him – she felt the same way. These were her adorable little girls, growing up and being individuals and making – making mistakes.
"You think Jackson'll ever betray us like this?"
Jenny laughed shortly.
"Let's see – either Jackson will be perfect in all things, or – hmm; Katharyn snuck out, Anna got a piercing – that means Jackson's thing will be – drunk, probably; homecoming party," she mused.
"Like mother like son."
She elbowed him.
"That was Halloween, and you started it."
"I don't think I – what did your father say? 'Poured whiskey down your throat.'"
"Well," Jenny said primly, washing her hands of it. "I never threw up from drinking again."
Gibbs gave her a look.
"You didn't throw up that night you called me, on your twenty-first? When I was in Iraq?"
Jenny wiggled her brows.
"Nope. I'm a tank."
He grinned at her. It was one of his favorite memories – everyone arranging a Skype call, and sticking Jenny in front of it, completely trashed, on her birthday, so he could sort of be there. She'd cried, talked to him about koalas for twenty minutes, and fallen asleep at the keyboard – after she aggressively yelled about how much she loved him, of course.
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, rubbing his face.
"Ahh, Jen," he groaned, almost whining. "I'm too old for this."
"We're exactly the right age for this."
This time, he did whine:
"Girls were hard enough when I was trying to date them," he complained. "No one told me raising them was such a bitch."
Jenny smiled.
"Having been a teenager girl, I can tell you – it's much, much harder than raising them," she told him wryly.
She rubbed his arm.
"Jethro, you're as good a father was my father was," she told him sincerely.
He turned his head.
"High praise," he said huskily, "considerin' what he gave me."
Jenny grinned smugly, and snuggled up to him, cuddling into his side and settling down to get at least a little sleep before the kids started waking up – Anna at eight to get to church, Jackson at about nine, for pancakes, and Katharyn – well, usually about noon, but Jenny was sure she'd hide in her room until the last possible moment, today.
"She's gonna be okay, right?" Gibbs ventured, wary. "Katty?"
"She's going to be okay," Jenny agreed. "We'll get her as far as we can in life. All of them," she said.
It always used to be him, who assured her they were doing fine, she was a good mother, they were good parents – now, with the girls fully into full-blown teenage female universes, he was in her realm; she was always reassuring him.
He ran his hand over her affectionately.
"I'm gonna follow up on that Barrington kid," he growled quietly. "See how it turns out."
"Jethro?" Jenny began, and he warily looked at her, afraid she was going to snippily tell him to back off. She surprised him, and said: "I wouldn't mind if you ruined that bastard's career."
She herself planned on calling Evelyne Barrington's mother and telling her exactly what Flynn had tried to pull on Katharyn; Evie's mom was a good woman, and her father was an honorable man – neither of them would like to hear their son was engaging in sinister behavior, and Jenny herself was probably one of the few who knew that Flynn Barrington had joined the Marines because it was that or spend some time in juvenile detention for shoplifting – he wasn't one of those call of duty Marines; he was a military or delinquency Marine.
Katharyn didn't know that; Katharyn just needed to know one of those vitally important, hard to hear truths of life: that the stories of fairytales and romance novels, of wildly popular television shows and Oscar winning movies, were the stories of one-in-a-million chances, the grandiose, rare exceptions to established universal rules of wise experience, and that the average person was not the exception, but the boring, disappointing, and need-to-learn rule.
April, 2034
-If you have a good mother/father ... listen to them. Please. People will tell you that you have to make your own mistakes, but wiser people learn from the mistakes of others who can hand down hard-learned life advice. And I wrote this because although I loved ACD, and it was fun to write and cute and whatnot...fiction is very different from real life, and in real life, I don't think any 22 year old who goes after a 17 year old is good news, in most cases.
-alexandra
story #268